potty dude

We are right in the midst of potty training. Finn suprised me and is doing awesome. Yes, I wanted to quit by day 3. But I hung in there. And now on a good day he will stay dry during his awake times and even tell me once or twice on his own that he has to go potty. When he goes he gets this smile over his face (like he is so proud). And jumps up shouting, "I DID IT!" Every night I tell him how proud of him I am, he's doing great. We stick to pull ups. They are like a little saftey net for Mom. One day we'll graduate to these underwear (which are actually so big they fall off when Finn moves). And for now, we call him potty dude.

tonsilectomy

2 weeks ago yesterday Annalese had her tonsils out. Ouch. But really she was very brave. Hayley's had this done. So Anna had a lot of prepping about how much it was going to hurt. And Hayley remembered the tweety bird nightgown, which they still use. Dr. Wood was her Doctor. He is awesome. (I was a kid when I met him... but he reminded me so much of Elder L. Tom Perry by his size and his personality). This was miserable. Really the worst part for a mom is when they bring you your daughter after surgery. I could hear her crying and got up to go get her. But she is on a hospital bed, curled up in a ball, confused and waking from anethesia, crying, scared and really hurt. They push the bed to where I am and have me sit in a chair and lift her out to me with an IV in her arm. And she is just crying and can't talk. 2 weeks later after much kindness from grandmas and friends and much misery on the couch she is better. She is a trooper. And she is sick of popsicles and ice cream.

The recovery was a doozie. These are the prescriptions filled in one week, organized by kid. And because "when it rains it pours" (my dad always says that) Emmie and Oliver got sick the same week. This didn't even include the tylenol and motrin given.


Anna's teacher Mrs. Skidmore brought balloons to our house with a pile of the cutest letters ever written by 1st graders. They included love notes. (Or just giant red hearts drawn by boys). This was from Jaxen H.

true sympathy from Mackayla who'd had her tonsils out before

a note from her best friend Natalie

my favorite... all of the little stick people crying their eyes out!

a wish that she won't have bad scabs

These were just a few of the notes. Her teacher has told me before how everyone in the class is friends with Annalese. They always want to play with her and sit by her. We put those notes right on her sick tray and she read them over and over.

So this week Finn tells me.. "Mom, tonsils hurt." And he sticks his finger in his ear. Of course he had an ear infection. That is the first time he's been able to tell me what hurts. Now a couple of days into the antibiotics, I think his "tonsils" are feeling much better. Funny kid.

ollie's baby blessing

Sweet little bean.

All dressed in white.

Oliver James Andersen

James is after his Grandpa Andersen.


I love his blue eyes.
They will probally change.
All of my babies were born with blue eyes.
And they changed.
But look at those eyelashes.

And when I took these pictures...
he found his little baby hands!

I crotched this blanket for him.

Here are some treats from the after party.
My mom helped make all of the little goodies.

I'm so grateful Ben has been able to bless all of our little beans.

What a wonderful thing it is to have the priesthood in our home.

Ollie actually had 2 blessings that day.

He got really sick after his baby blessing.

He wasn't happy enough to be passed around and shared

or have pictures with family and friends.

So Grandpa A. and Dad gave him another blessing at night.

We found out later he had RSV.

Poor baby.